Gasoline is Not Your Scent
by venividivici04
Summary: This story picks up at the end of Bloodlines. Charlotte is trying to regain her powers and her memories with help from Bree, but when Damon and Elena show up asking for Bree's help, Charlotte's world flips upside down. Magic links Charlotte and Damon-a link Charlotte does not have the power to break.


I was lying on my side for nearly an hour before gathering enough motivation to get out of bed. Most girls my age would be scrolling through their Instagram feeds, Facebook posts, and vines. Not a worry for me. The only friend I had was Bree, and that wasn't her choice. Instead, I stared at the rising sun, the dust particles circling in the still air, the flies climbing in and out of the windowsill. I reached under my bed and pulled the only picture I had left of Damon Salvatore—black and white in an old silver frame from the sixties. I took it with the first camera we ever bought. On late mornings like this, Damon and I would stay in bed for hours. Sometimes we would talk, sometimes about the future, sometimes about the present, and sometimes about our past adventures. Other times we would just stare out the window, as I did this morning. If I stared at his picture long enough, I could remember these moments, almost relive them. The sleek shine of his hair, the divinity of his blue eyes, the softness of his skin, his genuine smile. The love he once had for me. The love I made him forget. The love I would never have again.

I tucked his picture back under my bed in the small duffle bag I had. I allowed myself one last stretch and found the energy to get out of bed and face the day. Another day another chance to avoid wallowing in self-pity. After dressing in my usual garb—a pair of faded jeans, a white tank, a brown leather jacket, and a vintage gold ring with small diamonds that I wore on my left ring finger—I went downstairs to the bar. Bree was already there setting up for the noon crowd that came in for burgers, fries, and beer. The bar would be dead at three, maybe one or two customers, so Bree would use that time to reteach me magic. With her help I was getting stronger every day, but I didn't have full access to my powers. Or my memories. There was still a lock on both. Neither of us could figure out how to break it, which made me think I wasn't the one who put the lock on my magic. I couldn't remember anything before last year and after 1963.

"Morning," I said to Bree. I gathered my deep black hair (once burgundy) into a high ponytail and started chopping limes into quarter slices.

"Sleep well?" Bree said, meaning have I remembered anything yet? We had this theory that sleep would help me process the daily training and help me recover my lost memories. I shrugged my shoulders. I couldn't really sleep at all. I spent the night emptying my pillows and floating the feathers around the room. A parlor trick really, especially compared to what I used to be able to do.

I had been with Bree for almost a year now, and I was still stuck. For the first bit I seemed to be progressing well, but the past couple months or so I seemed to be stagnant. Everything was piling up and becoming more complicated and frustrating by the minute. The only thing Bree was able to discover was a magical link that would attach me to Damon. We weren't sure how it would be enacted, but I decided it would be best to stay away from him. Which is why I chose Atlanta. According to Lexi, Stefan had returned to Mystic Falls, which meant Damon wouldn't be far behind. Best to stay away from him until I figured out my situation. I tried to find members of my line up and down the East Coast before settling with Bree, but they were nonexistent. I hoped to syphon power through a stronger connection to unleash my powers and memories, but Bree was the only witch willing to help me. A Bennett witch, however distantly related to the line matriarch, should have been strong enough.

I couldn't focus on that now. Instead I focused on using what powers I had to flip burgers and drop the fries into the boiling oil. A step up from the parlor trick of floating feathers, but still an accomplishment. Aside from that, the afternoon was uneventful. Dale, Tom, and Vince ordered the usual, except Vince added extra pickles to his burger. He must have had another fight with his 85-year-old mother. Sour attitude translated to sour meal.

It was nearing three, so I went to the back to clean everything up before Bree and I started a lesson. Today we were working on locator spells. I grabbed the old map of Atlanta Bree had shoved in an unused drawer of her office desk. Bree had the other ingredients locked up. I couldn't help the excitement I felt when the clock hit three. I hadn't done a locater spell in ages but I remembered it being one of my favorites. A simple way to use magic, but powerful nevertheless.

I sat in the back waiting for Bree, but five minutes passed and she didn't come back. I went to the swinging door and opened it to see what was holding her up. I ducked into the back when I saw who Bree was talking to: Damon and Katherine. I knew she was still alive. I watched them through the circular window on the door, gambling with the bond that was sure to connect me and Damon at any moment. Katherine looked different from the picture Damon had of her and from what I remember. Her hair was straight, and she seemed more innocent than Damon's description of her and my last encounter with her. Bree didn't give her a second glance and went straight to Damon. She swung her legs over the bar and walked to him.

I was in a state of confusion and shock. I hadn't seen Damon in nearly forty years and Katherine was longer. I was frozen where I was, unable to peel my eyes from the situation. Then my brain started on schoolgirl fantasies without my permission. What if Damon didn't lose all his memories? Clearing them was the last thing I remembered before losing my own, but what if I didn't take them away completely? What if one look at me would bring back everything he had ever felt for me? What if we could go back to the way things were?

"My honey pie," Bree said before she pulled Damon into a kiss.

I wasn't fully aware of their relationship, and I almost felt betrayed by Bree. Then I felt the magic swirling through my veins. I tried to look away, foolishly thinking that if I no longer looked directly at Damon the magic would stop. The magic still swirled. But it hadn't linked us yet. I didn't know how to stop it, and I couldn't very well walk out to Bree and have her fix it. I slid to the floor resting my back against the wall. I could still hear everything outside.

"Listen up everybody," Bree called through the bar. Only two customers were there, and they were ready to leave. I gave their food to them twenty minutes ago. "Here's to the man that broke my heart, crushed my soul, destroyed my life, and ruined any and all chances of happiness." She poured three shots of whiskey for her, Damon, and Katherine. "Drink up."

While Bree took her shot, Damon knocked his and Katherine's back. Strange. Katherine was always first to drink. Bree refilled everyone's glasses anyway.

"So, how'd he rope you in?" Bree said to Katherine.

"I'm not roped in," Katherine said. She sounded different. Almost like a high school girl rather than a violent, manipulative vampire. "I'm dating his—"

Bree cut her off. "Honey, if you're not roped, you're whipped. Either way, just enjoy the ride."

Bree was right with that. Damon and I roped each other so fast we didn't think anything could break us. We just went along for the ride. For decades. Running so fast the consequences couldn't catch up with us.

"Ok," Katherine said, going along with the ride. "So how did you two meet?" This was something I wanted to know as well. Bree never mentioned actually knowing Damon. She said she knew of Damon, but not personally. Obviously a flat out lie.

Bree laughed. "College."

Katherine looked at Damon, almost laughing herself. "You went to college?" Honestly, I was surprised by the answer too.

"I've been on a college campus, yes," Damon said. He took another shot. That seemed more likely.

"About twenty years ago when I was a sweet, young freshman, I met this beautiful man, and I fell in love. And then he told me about his little secret—made me love him even more. Because, you see, I had a little secret of my own that I was dying to share with somebody."

Damon leaned into Katherine and whispered, "She's a witch."

Damon had a type apparently. And Bree knew this all along. I did feel betrayed then.

"Changed my world, you know," Bree said.

"I rocked your world."

"He's good in the sack, isn't her? But mostly he's just a walkaway-joe." Bree took another shot and turned away from them. "So what is it that you want?"

I desperately wanted to walk out of the back and show Damon my face, but jealousy would get me nowhere. Especially when I was dying to know what Damon wanted, and he seemed to only trust Bree with that. I stayed in the back, ready to pounce when needed, but trying to secure my patience and calm. All the while my magic was inhabiting every cell of my body.

Damon was different than he used to be. He seemed to be back in his old ways, from before I met him. Something I had spent years helping him overcome. Not that he would remember. Knowing him, he woke up one day after I was killed and fell right back into his old habits without a second thought. I'd like to think maybe because he missed me, but that was impossible. I took his love for me, but not our friendship, and I think it was the love that changed him the most. Once that was gone what was there to hold on to? But why did I take this from him? Why was I killed? I couldn't remember.

"I need your help," Damon said. He turned on his charm, a half smile with slightly squinted eyes. I was won over many times with this look.

Katherine's phone started to buzz, and she pulled it out of her back pocket deciding to step outside. She moved as if a normal human being. Something was wrong—she wasn't a vampire anymore. Did she find a cure? Or maybe she wasn't Katherine at all. A doppelganger. I had never met one before, but that was the only other explanation. I stayed in the back and watched her walk out the front, phone to her ear. I would have to leave my hiding place soon enough. The spell would be sealed soon, and I would have to leave with Damon and the doppelganger.

"Com one," Damon said to Bree. They were now sitting at a small table near the front of the bar. I was too focused on the doppelganger to realize they had moved. "There's got to be another way." I strained to hear them.

"After all these years it's still only Katherine?" Bree said. "How do you even know she's still alive?"

My heart sank. After all that time Damon and I spent together, long enough to know his obsession for Katherine had depleted, he wanted Katherine back.

"Help me get into tomb and we'll find out."

Mystic Falls only has one tomb. Under the old church. I knew about it long before Damon. After all, I had helped Emily Bennett seal the tomb. Vampires were held hostage there. Vampires ripe with rage and vengeance that could not be let out into the modern world without massive and severe consequences. Emily insisted Katherine was in the tomb when we sealed it. I didn't see her. Either way, I spent my life making sure no one stumbled upon that tomb.

"I already did," Bree said. "Twenty years ago. Remember?"

I wasn't surprised she and Damon knew where the tomb was. Damon had lived in Mystic Falls his entire life. And Bree was a Bennett witch. A Bennett witch sealed the tomb, and only a Bennett witch, or me, could unseal the tomb.

"Three easy steps," Bree said. "Comet, crystal, spell."

"A little problem with number two," Damon said. "I don't have the crystal."

"That's it, Damon. There is no other way. It's Emily's spell."

"What about a _new_ spell with a _new_ crystal that overrides Emily's spell?" I almost laughed at Damon's idea.

"It doesn't work that way, baby. Emily's spell is absolute. You can't get into that tomb."

Damon seemed crushed.

"Let me get you and your girl some lunch and some more drinks," Bree said. "That's all I can help you with."

Bree came into the back, nearly knocking me down. I jumped up to face her. She was just as startled as me, but she quickly pushed past me and slapped two burgers on the grill.

"Ignoring me isn't going to make this go away," I said.

"Look," she said, turning to face me, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you. But it wouldn't have changed anything."

"I can feel the magic working," I said. "The spell is going to link us at any moment now. Tell me again how nothing would have changed."

"I didn't think after all these years Damon would show up again," Bree said.

"It was still a possibility. Tell me this—have you been purposely slowing down my progress because of Damon?"

Bree avoided eye contact then dropped some fries into the oil.

"What did he do to make you hate me?" I said. She turned her back to me. "Fine. Consider this my last day."

I stomped out the back door and took the outside stairs to the loft where my bedroom was. I grabbed all the items I owned and threw them in the duffle bag I pulled from under the bed. I put on a baseball cap and left the room. I decided to go back to the bar and listen in on what Damon and the doppelganger were saying. I wanted to ground myself in the situation before telling them about the link.

They were still sitting at the bar, and I chose a small table behind them. They couldn't see me, but I could hear them.

"Let's say that I'm a descendent of Katherine," the doppelganger said, popping a fry in her mouth. "Does that make me part vampire?"

Stupid question. She must be new to this world.

"Vampires can't procreate," Damon said. "But we love to try." The doppelganger wasn't amused. "No. If you are related it would mean Katherine had a child before she was turned."

"Did Stefan think that he could use me to replace her?"

Stefan was still in the picture. And he obviously still had a thing for Katherine if he chose her doppelganger as a girlfriend. Her question was valid. Most of the torment he and Damon faced was because of Katherine. Something I tried to veer Damon away from. Something Damon still hated Stefan for. She was the reason Damon was turned.

"It's kind of creepy if you ask me." Damon looked at the doppelganger's plate. "Come on, what? You don't like pickles? What's wrong with you?"

"How can you even eat? If technically you're supposed to be…"

Damon looked around the bar, paying on the doppelganger's paranoia. "Dead?" He picked up a fry. "It's not such a bad word. As long as I keep a healthy diet of blood in my system, my body functions pretty normally."

The doppelganger laughed then became mildly serious. "This nice act—is any of it real?"

Bree swapped out Damon's beer for a fresh one. Saved by the beer. And luckily, she didn't see me. But yes. Because of her, his nice act was real.

"I'll have one too," the doppelganger said.

"Hmm?" Damon was surprised at the doppelganger's change in character.

"Time out, remember? For five minutes. Yeah, well, that five minutes is going to need a beer."

Damon and I used to have five-minute time outs. In the world we lived in, life became too serious a lot of the time. Time outs helped us forget our situation. I saw why Damon liked this clone so much. She wasn't a thing like Katherine. She was more like me. The way I used to be. Sometimes timid, but up for anything.

Their five-minute time out soon turned into a drinking night. Bree, Damon, the doppelganger, and other bar attendees had already downed three shots as part of their game. The doppelganger was in the lead, downing her shots faster than even Damon, which surprised me. Alcohol didn't affect vampires the way it did humans. They could heal faster, which meant they could drink more.

"Do you need a bib?" the doppelganger said to Damon.

Damon wiped his bottom lip. "Sorry I can't unhinge my jaw like a snake to consume alcohol." I almost laughed at that.

"Whatever," the doppelganger said, flattered by his compliment. "All right, who's next? Another round, Bree?"

"Honey, you should be on the floor," a customer said.

"I am not even drunk," she said. "My tolerance is, like, way up here." She leveled her hand about a foot above her head then cheered like a cheerleader.

Bree broke her concentration momentarily as she poured more shots, following a customer who came in the door and sat down the bar from Damon. I recognized him. He had been in a couple months ago with Lexi. I hadn't seen Quinn without Lexi before. Bree handed Quinn a beer and nodded toward Damon. A trap set for Damon. Dammit. Did Damon kill Lexi? A likely accusation knowing Damon. What other reason would Quinn be here without Lexi?

Quinn stayed unmoving while the doppelganger left the bar for the pool table. Unmoving until the doppelganger took another phone call from someone named Jenna and went outside. Then he followed. Damon was still inside, bordering on drunk, so I took my chance to leave the bar and follow Quinn and the doppelganger. This was the setup for the trap. The doppelganger was the bait. The doppelganger didn't mean much to Lexi, but she meant everything to Stefan. Which meant she was everything to Damon. Twisted logic, but it was there, and I could see it. Damon would be out soon, so I didn't bother spoiling the surprise of my existence and instead went to help the doppelganger.

I stuck to the shadows and watched as Quinn took the doppelganger and placed her on a steel ladder not minding to bind her in any way. He wasn't going to hurt her. Not yet. So I stayed in the shadows and focused on gathering what magic I could to help. The doppelganger seemed scared, but composed herself maturely. Quinn picked up his baseball bat from the ground and slunk back behind the doppelganger, invisible from the angle Damon would come forward at. I was to the side, and all I could see was a shadow.

As we all suspected Damon was quick to follow. Quinn would pounce soon, and I still didn't have a hold of my powers. When Damon was within reach, Quinn left his hiding place and swiped Damon off his feet with the baseball bat. It sounded like Quinn broke Damon's shins, but they would soon heal, so I wasn't worried about that. What made me worried was what Quinn would do to Damon while he was healing. Quinn gave Damon a few more swings.

"What the hell?" Damon said.

I couldn't come forward yet. I was still collecting my powers, and I was of no use with only half my strength. Quinn grabbed a barrel of gasoline and started pouring it on Damon. One match and Damon would be burned to a crisp with no chance of healing. The doppelganger tried to move forward, but Quinn snared his teeth.

"Who _are_ you?" Damon said.

"That's perfect," Quinn said. "You have no idea."

"What are you talking about?" the doppelganger said. "What did he do?"

"He killed my girlfriend," Quinn said. He was surprisingly calm. It scared me. Quinn emptied the rest of the barrel onto Damon. If I focused hard enough, I could use the elements to extinguish the fire before it reached Damon.

"What did she do to you, huh?" Quinn yelled at Damon. "What did she do to you?"

"Nothing," Damon said. If anything, at least Damon was honest.

"I don't understand," the doppelganger said.

Quinn picked up his baseball bat again. "My girlfriend went to visit Stefan, and Damon killed her. Got it?" with the toe of his boot, he kicked Damon in the face.

"Lexi?" the doppelganger said. "Lexi was your girlfriend? She told me about you. She said you were human."

"I was," Quinn said. He was almost in tears. He pulled out a match.

"Lexi turned you?" the doppelganger said. She was trying to stall. Good. I almost had my magic focused.

"IF you want to be with someone forever you have to live forever." He kicked Damon's face again, splitting his lip.

"She loved you," the doppelganger said. She was frantic now. "She said that when it's real, you can't walk away."

"Well that's a choice you're not going to have to make." Quinn must have thought Damon was with the doppelganger instead of Stefan. Maybe Damon thought so too.

"Don't. Please don't hurt him."

Quinn lit a match. "I'm doing you a favor."

"Lexi loved you. And she was good. That means you're good too. Be better than him. Don't do this. I'm begging you." For a moment, I thought the doppelganger had changed his mind. "Please."

She hadn't. Quinn dropped the match. I was actually surprised when I found I had enough strength to extinguish the fire. I came from the shadows and used the rest of my powers to force Quinn's baseball bat through his heart. I desperately wanted him to live, but if it came down to Quinn or Damon, Damon would win every time.

Quinn shriveled and fell lifeless to the asphalt. I went to Damon and stood over him. His lips were parted in shock.

"How many times do I have to tell you gasoline is not your scent?" I said.

"Before or after your death?" He said. At least he remembered me. I wondered which memories he had and which ones were gone.

"Who's the Katherine clone?" I said, nodding toward the doppelganger.

"Elena," she said stepping towards us. "Elena Gilbert."

"Gilbert?" I said. "As in…wow, Damon. You're running with a rather interesting crowd." I had met many Gilberts in my time. All of them from Mystic Falls. All of them interesting, to say the least.

"You stay there," Damon said to Elena. Then he pointed to me. "I'll talk to you later."

Damon turned to go back inside, anger across his face and influencing his walk. She betrayed him and set him up, and I knew Damon would do something rash. I followed, and after a few steps I turned to Elena and wove to her to follow me. She fell into step behind me and we went into the bar.

Bree was at the counter and took another shot. She gulped hard when she saw us enter the bar.

"We were just leaving. Wanted to say goodbye," Damon said, a growl hidden behind his words. Bree's eyes widened, stunned that Damon was still alive. She shouldn't have been though. Damon was older and stronger than Quinn. No matter what, Damon would have survived.

"Good to see you again, Damon," she said, playing cool. He knew she set him up.

"No kiss?" Damon was less than amused.

"I'm full of vervain. I put it in everything I drink." She knew this threat wouldn't save her. At least she gave it her best effort.

"And you're telling me this why?"

"Lexi was my friend. How could you?"

She turned toward the back, hoping Damon would let this incident slide. Even so close to death she still had hope. Admirable. Damon was too fast for her, though. He matched her front before she got to the swigging door.

"The tomb can be opened," Bree said, now more frightened than she had ever been.

"You're lying," Damon said, disappointed in her change of character.

"Emily's grimoire—her spell book. If you know how she closed the tomb, the reversal process will be in her book. You can open the tomb."

"And where is this book?" Damon backed her against the wall.

"I—I—I—"

"You have _no_ idea."

"No. I'm telling you the truth."

"And I believe you." Damon caressed her face. He wasn't sincere. I could tell where he was going. I turned Elena away from him and shoved her out the door. This wasn't meant for a high schooler's eyes. "My dear, sweet Bree. That's why I'm almost sorry."

He plunged his fist into her chest and removed her heart, letting the blood drip in front of her as she lost life. He dropped the heart and wiped his hand on the bar towel. He grabbed his jacket and grabbed the crook of my arm as he walked.

"Well that was graceful," I said. He was leading me out the door. "Let's just kill everyone we see. Same old Damon."

"At least I'm not a liar," Damon said.

"That's not fair. You have no idea what happened."

"And whose fault is that?" Damon was angrier than I had ever seen him.

"What do you remember," I said, looking him in the eye.

"Not much since you took my memories."

"How did you know that?"

He turned to Elena. "Get in the car." I reached for the door, but he stopped me in my tracks. "Not you."

"Yeah, well, you're stuck with me anyway. Long story, and I'm not sure what the radius is, but if we're too far apart, there will be pain. Lots of pain. Besides, we need to catch up."

"Backseat."

We drove back to Mystic Falls in silence. I knew Elena was dying to ask why she resembled Katherine, and so was I. I also wanted to know what Damon remembered and how he knew I had taken his memories. But with his mood, we decided to sit silently.


End file.
